What is your most memorable moment from Basic Training?

1987 - Fort Benning IET - Going through gas chamber and unmasking in pairs. The other private in my pair takes out a contraband camera, hands it to the DS and asks him to take a picture of us. DS says sure. We unmask. DS asks deliberately dumb questions about how to work the camera as we fully experience the CS for an excessive period. PV1 Dumbass never saw his camera again.

Live fire using tracers.

My was taking cookies from the chow hall and eating it on fire watch. I was always hungry in boot camp and the only way I really got through it was looking forward towards the next meal. I also got caught by a fellow recruit who was one of those recruit on a diet program. He threaten to report me and I told him it's his words against mine and I'll say that he's the one that had the cookie and was eating the cookie, that stopped the reporting conversation. Then he asked to have the last cookie which I refused, instead he brought my last cookie for $20.

My favorite moment from Basic Training with the Army was during mail call in about the 6th or 7th week. We had a small company, only about 80 in the entire company and only about 20 in my platoon. SSG Longo was calling names and flinging letters around. He got to one letter and started, "Guil..., Gwill..." I piped up and said "Guilliams, Drill Sergeant, here." He looked at me and said "God (blank), I don't know half you people." I was extremely proud to have stayed under the radar for that long.

Most memorable moment from Navy Officer Training was when those of us who were prior service were telling the newbies what to expect on the first morning. We told them about the early wakeup, the trash cans down the middle of the passageway, etc. We told them to sleep in their PT gear and that they would need to be ready to pop up quick and get their shoes on to get out in the p-way. One of the newbies suggested we just wake up extra early and be waiting for the Senior Cheifs when they came in. It took us a while to make them understand why that would be a VERY BAD idea.

We all had this happen at lest once.

Fall of 1998. My partner & I were walking to our 'post' for duty guarding the break patio & snack machines. As we were walking we were attacked by a lone TI swimming the open seas of the 343 TRS. We were discussing how we were going to set up our watch.

"AIRMEN!"
pucker factor 10 hit.
"What in the hell are you doing?!"
"Sir, Airman Roberts reports as ordered. We were securing our detail plans to ensure we were successful!"
"Outstanding! Now give me a 341!"

When are DI got lost on our road march and we marched 14 hrs.

I was doing Beast Barracks at West Point and would have to do parade on Wednesdays and Sundays. Lots of tourists around. The officers would file out to the parade ground and stand under a canopy. The band played the same music every time. "Here Come the Clowns"

Took about 4 weeks before a clown figured it out.

On the parade field, on graduation day, my Company Commander 'fell-out' of formation....

(Not exactly 'good' that it happened, but more 'memorable' because it was bizarre and completely unexpected.)

I was in basic at Lackland AFB in June/July 1967. The memory that comes back to haunt me most often was when i got the phone call from my folks to tell me that my brother had been killed in VN. I know this isn't the kind of thing most people would want to read, or hear about on a thread like this, but it made such an impact on me that I thought I should share it.